Turning 44 in Immokalee

This has been an absolutely crazy week! I spent Monday and Tuesday playing catch up from being in Tampa the previous week. Wednesday and Thursday I did re-inspections in Immokalee and Ft. Myers. On Wednesday I also found out that my boss nominated me for a national award ...and I got it. I am still a bit stunned.

Today is my 44th  Birthday and I spent the day doing re-inspections in Immokalee. Sounds crazy but it just seemed right. Seriously, places like where we were today got me a national award and have kept me in bread and butter the last 3 years. Even crazier, I normally do not mind working in tough locations. My boss has trained me well and every one of them can be a challenge. After all almost anyone can inspect a Publix or Sweetbay or a 7-Eleven. How many people get to inspect places that have both turkey vultures and chickens on site at the same time??  And yes, this was a grocery store.    

In my job I see places and a side of America that at times seems like I am in third world country. Not like I am less than an hour from Naples, one of the richest places in Florida. The places are colorful, loud and at times a bit smelly. The people, for the most part, are like most of us only they speak different languages and have not have the benefit of our education system.

I have watched the buses roll in at sunset coughing out sweaty, weary field workers in front of the bodegas while loud accordion music blares from the bars up and down the street. The workers are tired, most likely hungry and covered with the evidence of hours of toiling in the sandy soils of South Florida. Sunrise brings a reverse with the workers somewhat more subdued loading onto the buses to head out to the tomato fields or orange grove or whatever crop happens to be ripe for the picking that day. They are the ones who ensure we have beautiful produce on our grocery shelves when we are to busy to grow our own.

At one of the last training sessions I attended a woman from University of Florida IFAS spoke. One of the stories she told was about the shortage of field workers with all of the laws enacted to stop illegal immigration. The local farmers needed hands to plant the strawberry crop and could not get the usual workers. In an attempt to plant the crop they hired local hourly labor. Most workers did not last 8 hours and many who did last did not return for a second day of work. It is hot, sweaty, backbreaking work. We want the fruits of the labor but do not want to recognize the labor that has produced our food.  

So at the end of my day I drove the hour home. Back to comfort and the world of Publix and 7 -Eleven. I filed my paperwork, checked my Facebook and grabbed a beer. (Gluten free of course.) Rob will be home soon and we will have pizza and relax. I guess for my 44th I got a new perspective on Immokalee and a whole lot of gratitude for the gifts from my family.    

Hugs to all!!!  

Good Agricultural Practices

Photo from The Coalition of Immokalee Workers website.

The last week has been spent in Tampa for an FDA course on Food Outbreak Investigations focusing on the fields where produce is grown. Since it was for my job I can't write about all of the awesome stuff I learned. I can say that if it is information that you are interested in learning about you can look up, "Good Agricultural Practices" online. There are "Global Gaps" and "Gaps for the Garden". All great information!

The top link is the hard core sciency info and the second link is the easier to read guide for home growers of fruits and vegetables. Both are full of great information! The last link is to the CIW website where I obtained the above picture. Enjoy!

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/ProduceandPlanProducts/ucm064574.htm

http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/26428.pdf

http://ciw-online.org/inthefields.html

As some of you may have noticed, I have been away from the blog for a couple of months. Life had gotten a bit crazy and something had to give. It was the blog.

I wish I could say that while I was a non blogger amazing insights burst into my subconscious and somehow the meaning of life became clear. No such luck. I am still me, I still have the same job and life is still lovely. My garden is chaos, my work fulfilling and my health is better than ever before. Life still throws hiccups at me and I still freak out about deadlines. Yet what I did learn is that sometimes you need to step away to see if something really matters enough to continue putting forth your personal effort.

In the past I have done the same with yoga ( still going strong), a couple relationships (that didn't usually work out well) and a couple of sucky careers ( Guess how that worked??). Blogging drew me back. Maybe no one will ever read or care about what I write. Maybe I may not write often. It is an outlet for me when the frustrations of my life build and I can't call my boss and tell him I am done. I can simply log on and escape onto writing about life and food.

So here I am. Back to write and hopefully have some fun along the way!!

Hugs!!

Jo